Mexico: Roster Breakdown For The Final Games Of The Hex

SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA - SEPTEMBER 05: Jesus Manuel Corona of Mexico fights for the ball with Francisco Calvo of Costa Rica during the match between Costa Rica and Mexico as part of the FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifiers at Nacional de Costa Rica Stadium on September 05, 2017 in San Jose, Costa Rica. (Photo by Arnoldo Robert/Getty Images)

Mexico is cleared for the 2018 World Cup but there are two more remaining matches in the CONCACAF Hex. Mexico will face Trinidad & Tobago on October 6, and Honduras on October 10. Although Mexico will not need to win the games, Juan Carlos Osorio has assembled a familiar roster.

It’s normal to expect a large chunk of the call-up from Osorio to be familiar names, yet, this was a great time to see some new names. Gael Sandoval, Víctor Gúzman, Paul Aguilar, Rodolfo Pizarro, and Omar Govea deserved a call due to their form with their clubs. Jonathan dos Santos and Giovani dos Santos have been unimpressive with LA, and they will also not even be in the playoffs.

The defense has no surprises, nor are there any real new faces who should’ve been called with exception of possibly Cesár Montes. However, everyone was expected to be added, which is the same situation with the keepers.

The attack is in an interesting place because the players are either really “in-form” or not. Chicharito and his club West Ham have been poor this season, but he did score recently against Tottenham. Raúl did score in a cup match a couple weeks back and has been seeing a bit more time with Benfica as of late. It’ll be interesting to see how Osorio utilizes either one striker up front or even trying them together.

As stated, these two matches don’t really matter for Mexico, but Osorio would love to end the Hex in the first spot. Four years ago, Mexico landed in the fourth spot in agonizing fashion and needed to face New Zealand in a two-game playoff to win their ticket.

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